Baroque Music from FINLAND

Opus X is one of the leading Finnish early music ensembles and has made concert appearances and recordings of groundbreaking importance in the Finnish early music scene. Opus X was founded in 1995 at the initiative of violinist Petri Tapio Mattson; Mattson became the ensemble's artistic director. Initially the repertoire consisted entirely of chamber music, which the ensemble has performed in wide variety from Italian Early Baroque to quartets of Haydn and Mozart.

Opus X is an ensemble whose main priorities are quality (rather than quantity) and projects of national and international interest. The goal is that the ensemble's concerts and recordings offer something special, whether it is repertoire seldom or never heard before, or a fresh take on a mainstream classic. A key part of realizing this is the employment of the very best forces within the Finnish early music performance and co-operating with top-class guest soloists.

MY Classical Winter

An outstanding collection, this Naïve reissue is first choice.

By Accentus, Anne Sofie von Otter, Grigory Sokolov, Philippe Jaroussky, Laurent Korcia, Sandrine Piau, Jean-François Zygel, Marc Minkowski, Anne Gastinel, Sarah & Deborah Nemtanu, Franco Fagioli, Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Nicholas Angelich, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Sonia Wieder-Atherton, François-Frédéric Guy, Fazil Say, Sergey Khachatryan, Lise de la Salle.

O dulcis AMOR

"This is fascinating music, and it is easy to get lost in the moment and enjoy this beautiful performance... The group deserves high praise for this performance... Anyone who wants to investigate an important transition period in music history - it just might alter your perspective on the early baroque - should buy this, and anyone who appreciates beautiful music and great musicianship will be pleased with it." --American Record Guide September/October 2005 

For the first time in history, the 17th century opened up a vast area of musical activities for female artists as the Renaissance philosophy had established a new place for women in society. In his Il libro del Cortegiano (1528), Baldassare Castiglione presented them as gracious and beautiful, equally cultured in literature as men, as well as educated in dance and music, accomplished in conversational skills, intelligent and entertaining.

Life at the courts provided for the donne di palazzo a veritable opportunity to liberate themselves. The new role that was bestowed on women might even have added to the growing sophistication of lifestyle in the 16th century, which was greatly articulated in the promotion of the arts and in the implicit prescriptions for social behaviour. 

Erasmus revered in his Encomium matrimonii (1518) the blissful union of husband and wife, and the general trend of Neo-Platonism led to a new interest in women, which greatly surpassed their thus far expected role as child bearers to continue the family name, and their rigid position in domestic life. However, only the higher classes in society enjoyed these privileges. Christian tradition was deeply anchored in the common perception of women as unfaithful seductresses, foolish and impetuous. Consequently, women remained the subject of much ridicule and scepticism.

The imposing voice of Vespasiano da Bisticci is effortlessly recalled, instructing women to live by the two chief commandments of the apostle Paul: to raise their children as devoted Christians and to keep silent at church. The status from which certain women benefited at the end of the Renaissance was in many ways a compromise between the conservative Christian tradition, strengthened by the Council of Trente (1545-1563), and the humanist objective of equality between male and female.

LA VILLANELLA BASEL was founded on the occasion of the Luther memorial year 1996. All graduates of the Schola Cantorum in Basel, the members of the ensemble are currently based in Germany and perform extensively across Europe. Their repertoire focuses on music from the transitional period between the 16th and 17th centuries. In accordance with historic performance practice, their own instrumental diminutions substantially feature in every concert.

The name of the ensemble refers to an old Italian musical form, the villanella, which originated in the folkloric style but became immensely popular in art music during the 17th century. Although it is a mere coincidence that all performers in La Villanella Basel are women, the group feels this is a strong additional incentive to perform music by female composers of that era.

Stravaganze NAPOLETANE

The focus of this release – the first meeting on disc of one of the leading recorder virtuosos of the day and one of the most highly respected baroque ensembles – is on a mysterious manuscript, dated 1725, in the library of the Conservatorio di Musica San Pietro a Maiella in Naples. Mysterious in so far that we do not know why these works were gathered together – at what would have been a substantial cost for the copying of them – especially in an environment like Naples at the time, where all the rage was for vocal music: opera, cantatas and oratorios.

The manuscript comprises 24 sonatas for recorder and strings – works which up to now have often been referred to and published as ‘concertos’.

Many of the composers represented had direct links with the institutions that would later become San Pietro, either as pupils (Sarri, Mancini, Barbella) or as maestri di cappella (Scarlatti). As an ‘in-house’ production, the manuscript testifies to the extraordinary talents that lived and worked in Naples at that time. Dan Laurin and London Baroque have chosen four of these ’sonatas’ or ’chamber concertos’ for inclusion on the present disc – works which are in many ways as different from each other as were the individual composers. As Laurin puts it in his liner notes: ’Scarlatti is noble, Mancini dramatic, Barbella creates difficulties for himself and Sarri does not even attempt to follow all the rules and strictures!’

Common to the sonatas is the fact that the recorder part is technically not very complicated and frequently takes the rôle of a member of the ensemble rather than that of soloist. These works are complemented by four other examples of the chamber music of the period – with and without recorder – in which these musicians exploit every finesse and nuance – an extravagant, not to say unmissable, opportunity!

Zu Gast Im BLAUEN HAUS Trio sonatas from the Music Collection of Lucas Sarasin

Der Musikalische Gartens second recording A Visit to the Blue House: Trio Sonatas continues their exploration of the collection of 18th century Basel merchant Lucas Sarasin. Building on the strengths of their debut with the uncommon scordatura tuning, the depth of Lucas Sarasins music collection is further revealed with these trio sonatas that showcase the breadth of composers working in southwestern Germany and northern Italy, the two centers of instrumental chamber music of the day. The Blue House of the title references Sarasins home which doubled as a salon and performance space and this recording allows us indeed a visit to eavesdrop during a fertile time of transition that bridged the Baroque and Classical eras.

Release date: 23rd Oct 2015

The ensemble Der musikalische Garten creates a “fine garden filled with fresh and natural playing”, according to a review on the Bavarian Radio website. Just like there are different paths and unusual flowers to be discovered in any garden, so it is with the four musicians of the ensemble – Karoline Echeverri Klemm, Germán Echeverri Chamorro, Annekatrin Beller and Daniela Niedhammer – and their quest for new and unfamiliar musical directions. 

In addition to his comprehensive musical instrument collection, Lucas Sarasin (1730-1802) also maintained a substantial music library. A detailed inventory, which survives today, lists all the musical scores that were in Sarasin’s possession and meticulously categorizes then by genre, providing us with a unique insight into the music performed at the Blue House (home of Sarasin).

HARMONISCHE FREUDE Works for Baroque Oboe, Trumpet and Chamber Organ

Harmonische Freude features chamber music by Johann Sebastian Bach and his extended circle, played on authentic period instruments by Austral Harmony.

 

“... beautifully, joyously performed, this is a thought-provoking disc I look forward to revisiting and sharing with friends.” --Gramophone Magazine, September 2015

“... This is a nice disc which allows the listener to become acquainted with a genre which is not that well-known...” --MusicWeb-International.com, 17 July 2015

Harmonische Freude features chamber music by Johann Sebastian Bach and his extended circle, played on historical instruments by Austral Harmony, an ensemble of Australian musicians who specialise in music of the 18th century. The group fosters a particular interest in the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, and presents innovatively designed programmes promoting less familiar repertoire. This is its first recording on Chandos.

Using the sustained tone of a small pipe organ alongside baroque oboe and trumpet, the musicians create an impression of intimacy and a pleasing variety of sonority. Inspiration comes from Georg Friedrich Kauffmann’s concept of having an oboist imitate an organ stop by playing from the organ loft. Bach employed Lutheran chorales exhaustively throughout his choral and organ works; his pupils Krebs and Homilius composed chorale adaptations which included oboe and trumpet in a solo role. Four different trumpets and an oboe d’amore lend expressivity to the various hymn tunes which are a focal point of the disc. The musical idiom of other associates and pupils of Bach reflects the progressive and predominantly melodic galant style which ushered in the musical ideals of the Classical era.

Les Musiques ROYALES

Qui de mieux que Stéphane Bern pour faire une compilation sur les musiques de la royauté. Le présentateur propose une série de 3 CD.

Retrouvez sur cette compilation les chefs d'oeuvres d'artistes des 400 précédentes années. Mariages, commémorations, fêtes et autres divertissements, ce triple CD regorgent de musiques qui ont animé les festivités royales. Ces titres, rigoureusement sélectionnés par Stéphane Bern qui est spécialisé dans les familles royales, regorgent de surprises et invitent les personnes à se plonger dans les trésors de l'histoire.
Release date: 27th April 2015

Haendel, Mozart ou encore Lully font partie de la playliste. Certaines de ces musiques sont encore utilisées de nos jours, sans que les gens sans rendent compte souligne Stéphane Bern, comme la musique de la Ligue des champions.